Rubber Stamps Celebrity Stamp Spot

Welcome to our Rubber Stamps Celebrity Stamp Spot.

This blog entry is dedicated to rubber stamps that we’ve spotted on screen. Please leave us a comment below if you spot a rubber stamp being used on TV or film, we’d love to include your Celebrity Stamp Spot alongside ours!

Stamp Spot #1 : The Man Who Knew Too Little (Film)

First on our list is the 1998 film “The Man Who Knew Too Little” starring Bill Murray. A Trodat 4460 stars in the opening scenes. An actor playing an immigration officer uses the stamp a number of times. The Trodat 4460 was a popular stamp of choice for heavy duty tasks such as those shown in the film.

Early versions of the 4460 required the text plate to be semi removed before the date could be adjusted. Later versions had flat date bands; this resulted in a quicker date change. This meant however that the area available for text was slightly reduced. Trodat have since replaced the 4460 by the 5460.

Stamp Spot #2 : Anna Karenina (Film)

Next we have a spot which features over 206 traditional rubber stamps! Where? In the Anna Karenina film starring Keira Knightly and Jude Law. The film includes a 52 second long clip with numerous office workers stamping in beautiful harmony. The rubber stamps have black wooden handles with black acrylic bases. The clip can be viewed on YouTube.

Stamp Spot #3 : Extras (TV Show)

A Plastic Cased Self-inking Rubber Stamp can be seen in many episodes of the BBC comedy Extras. Sitting on the desk of the character played by Stephen Merchant, the stamp is visible during most meetings between Stephen and the Ricky Gervais character, Andy Millman.

The make of the stamp isn’t obvious from the footage. However, it is suspected to be either a Trodat 4915; or Shiny S-825.

Stamp Spot #4 : The One Show (TV Show)

Our next Celebrity Stamp Spot is another BBC show. On 19th December 2011 The One Show presented comedian Lee Evans with a solution for signing his autograph in his latest book.

This traditional rubber stamp has a red wooden handle with a brass ferrel and clear acrylic mount. The production method involves aligning a printed index with the rubber. This allows the user to accurately position the impression.

Stamp Spot #5 : The Expendables (Film)

Another appearance for “passport-control” stamps. The 2010 film ‘The Expendables’ starring Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham. The location is Aden in Yemen. The immigration officer has a large selection of rubber stamps. In the shot below you can see Stallone admiring the two traditional wooden handled rubber stamps and a modern pre-inked stamp.

An open ink pad, with what looks like a very basic wooden craft stamp can also be spotted.

Stamp Spot #6 : Snatch (Film)

Here we again at passport control for the year 2000 British film Snatch. An American criminal is forced to come to the UK to intercept a crime deal which he fears is not going to plan.

He enters the UK at Heathrow and in a fast-paced sequence his passport is stamped. The eagle-eyed stamp spotters amongst us will notice the stamp isn’t quite what it first seems!

In our first frame we see a traditional rubber stamp with wooden handle. The acrylic mount has been produced oversize (possibly for filming purposes) and features the main design plus a small amount of text above. However, the really interesting part of this stamp is the date! Yes, a date on a fixed traditional rubber stamp. What purpose could this be? As we all know the date would be non-adjustable, making the stamp only applicable on the date shown (6th October 1999). This evidence would suggest the stamp was produced purely for the production of the film.

The next frame then really adds a further twist. As the stamp is lifted from the passport the resulting impression doesn’t feature the date!!!

The reasons for this aren’t clear, however it could have been a stipulation of the company producing the stamp to make it less authentic, as the production of such stamps is subject to the guidance set-out by the Metropolitan Police.

Have you spotted a rubber stamp in the spotlight? Leave a comment below and keep the Celebrity Stamp Spot going!

This company supports the Metropolitan Police initiative to prevent sale of equipment for illegal purposes. Information may be shared with the law enforcement NB: The Metropolitan Police Service does not endorse any product sold.